


Leaving Troy

by marchioness_king



Series: everything you say is a sweet revelation [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Canon Temporary Character Death, Dick and Damian are also there, F/M, Hurt No Comfort, Post-Break Up, and Cass is mentioned, it's mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:34:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25622206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marchioness_king/pseuds/marchioness_king
Summary: Tim is leaving Gotham, leaving Steph, and she can't believe it.
Relationships: Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake
Series: everything you say is a sweet revelation [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857274
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	Leaving Troy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Crystalinastar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystalinastar/gifts).



> Written for a tumblr prompt featuring the dialogue, "I’ve been in love with you my entire life. Ever since the day I first met you.”
> 
> Prompt list here (this one was 58): https://afellowstargazingdreamer.tumblr.com/post/625080624826466304/writing-prompts  
> Tumblr post here: https://afellowstargazingdreamer.tumblr.com/post/625122881004879872/58-with-timsteph-and-the-cassandratim-au-please

Steph found out from Damian, of all people: a throwaway comment about “less usurpers taking up space in the cave” that Dick grimaced at but didn’t correct. When she realized what he meant, her heart seized in her chest, and she nearly missed her grapple.

“What do you mean,” she demanded, once her feet were firmly on the next roof. “Robin. What the _hell_ do you mean?”

“Calm down,” Dick tried, and she turned her focus on him. “Red Robin’s fine. He’s just moving, apparently.”

“Moving?” she echoed, incredulous. Was the ground solid beneath her? First Cass was going back to Hong Kong, and now Tim was leaving? It felt like she was losing everything all over again.

“I didn’t believe it either,” Dick said, with a forced half-laugh. “But they showed us the plane tickets and lease and everything. At least they’ll have each other.”

“They,” she echoed.

“Black Bat and Red Robin,” Damian scoffed. “Were you even listening, Batgirl?”

It was the sudden terror that drove her through the rest of patrol, almost on autopilot, into the cave and out of costume and onto her bike and driving to Tim’s apartment. She didn’t know if she was speeding or not, or swerving or not, because it felt like she was dying all over again.

And yet when she parked outside the old theater, she didn’t want to go in. She didn’t know what to say or how to act. Did she even have the right to come here at such an odd hour, after everything?

“Fuck it,” she muttered, and she marched up to the door.

There was an access panel to get in, but she’d barely even seen it when the door clicked. She tested it, and it had unlocked. The halls were silent as she made her way to Tim’s apartment, her footsteps echoing in the stairwell.

The place was clean, she noticed, as she shut the door behind her. There was a pair of dress shoes by the door and a tablet charging on the kitchen counter, but otherwise it could’ve been a showroom. There weren’t even any boxes, just light floors and marble and white walls, immaculate and completely impersonal.

Down the dark hall at the far end of the room, a door opened, and Tim stepped out, sans the cowl but still in the rest of his costume. He didn’t quite meet her eyes even as he approached her, walking behind the island and picking up the tablet. “What do you need?” he asked, voice blank, as he unlocked it.

“Tim,” she said, but his face was impassive. “I… I heard you’re leaving.”

“I am,” he conceded. She waited for him to continue, but he didn’t, just watching her.

_Why_ , she wanted to ask. _When, where,_ **_why_**. “With Cass,” she said, just to be sure.

He nodded. “She asked, and I said yes,” he explained. “We leave in a week.”

Only a week. It wasn’t enough time and yet she didn’t know what she wanted to do in it. “Oh,” she said. “I- Do you need help? Packing? Or something?”

Tim frowned—an emotion, finally—and put the tablet down, resting his hand atop it. “Why are you here, Stephanie?” he asked, weary-sounding.

“You didn’t tell me you were leaving,” she replied, sounding lost and hating it.

“I didn’t think it was relevant,” he informed her, and that was- Wow. They’d been friends before they dated, and even after she came back and the dust settled she’d thought they still got along.

“You didn’t think it was _relevant_?” she demanded. His frown deepened, and she tried to take a deep breath. “What, you thought I’d be okay with finding out _after_ the fact?”

“I thought Cass would tell you,” he countered. Then he snorted. “Besides, I didn’t think you’d believe me if I told you.”

Steph reared back. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Exactly what I said,” he retorted. “It’s not your fault; no one does.”

She had no idea what that was supposed to mean, so she ignored it. “So that’s it?” she asked. “You’re just leaving?”

“It’s my decision and I expect you to respect it,” he replied.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to shake him. “You said you couldn’t imagine living anywhere _but_ Gotham,” she said, sharply.

“That was years ago-” he started.

“Well how would I know anything’s changed?” she shouted. “You don’t tell me _anything_ anymore, Tim! I don’t even know _why_ you’d want to leave-”

“I know everything that’ll happen in this fucking city if I stay!” he snapped. “Every time I sleep I wake up shouting one of your names! Shit, Steph,” and his voice broke, “I can’t keep doing this.”

He leaned over the island, elbows on the surface and his hands clasped at his forehead, and she ached to go to him, to put her hand on his shoulder and see him through it. But she was a coward, and she stayed where she was, and asked weakly, “Doing what?”

He gestured a hand in the air aimlessly. “Knowing things,” he said. “Not knowing how to change things. This city’s killing me, Steph.”

He was saying words, but she couldn’t understand them. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been in love with you my entire life,” he told her, and she stilled. “Ever since the day I first met you. Before then, maybe.” He smiled mirthlessly. “Do you remember what I told you? Right before we kissed, the first time.”

She didn’t remember him saying a thing, and he seemed to realize this, since he sighed. “I told you that you’d leave me,” he reminded her. “I told you that you’d break my heart.” He straightened up and spread out his arms. “You did. And if I stay here, you’ll do it again, and I’d let you. But if I leave?”

She wanted to say, _You’d be breaking_ my _heart_. She wanted to beg. She wanted to scream.

“That’s it, then,” she said instead.

He nodded. “That’s it.”

She swallowed thickly and glanced around the room again: everything bare. “Right, then,” she said. “You know I love you too?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I know.”

_I know_ echoed in her mind as she excused herself, making her way back down to the street, to her bike, as she drove to her apartment, as she shed her costume and collapsed on her bed, as she choked on a sob and let everything go.


End file.
